An Enexis for everyone

In order to be an organisation for everyone, we have been paying extra attention to diversity and inclusiveness since 2022. Inclusiveness is one of our three core values and is incorporated in our leadership compass. We regard social safety as the basis of an inclusive organisation. This enables people to be themselves, to develop, and strengthen each other. With our programme ‘An Enexis for everyone’, we are working on the following long-term objectives:

• An inclusive organisation culture

• Balance in diversity in all positions throughout the organisation

• Embedding diversity and inclusiveness in HR and other processes

Working together on an inclusive culture

We paid a lot of attention to awareness in 2023. By explaining which objectives we have in the field of diversity and inclusiveness, why we have chosen these objectives, and how we want to realise these objectives together. We worked on strengthening awareness through, for example, team and MT sessions, events, master classes, and practical interventions.

We are aware that this development requires a long-term commitment, money, and time and we cannot do this alone. Therefore, we seek to collaborate with colleague grid operators, social organisations, and market parties. With their knowledge and insights, these experts can help us to create an inclusive culture so that we are better able to retain employees. To this end, we work together with organisations such as Refugee Talent Hub, Foundation Young Diverse Leaders, Motopp, iSprout, Critical Mass, and Onbeperkt aan de Slag. We also set up a dashboard in 2023 to visualise the qualitative and quantitative diversity objectives.

In the realisation that we still have a long way to go, we nevertheless look back with satisfaction at the results that we achieved in 2023.

• We hired ten employees with a refugee background. They started working in the Operations and ICT departments. After completing a bridging programme or an extensive onboarding, these employees participate in the regular training programmes.

• We hired nine new colleagues from South Africa. They are following training programmes in the Netherlands and are participating in the Engineering Academy.

• We are starting with a dual-language policy in the ICT department. In this manner, we lower the threshold to apply for a job at Enexis. Therefore, we started an English language recruitment campaign for ICT personnel in 2023. New colleagues follow Dutch language courses and Dutch colleagues can also follow English courses. Thanks to this approach, we were able to hire nine new colleagues in this tight labour market.

More women in top positions

Our aim to increase the number of women in management positions has also been laid down in our policy. We re-examined our targets for the gender ratio in the Supervisory Board (SB) and the Executive Board (EB) and senior management (sub-top). Companies are obliged to report their gender ratio separately in the Diversity Portal of the Dutch Social Economic Council since 2023.

The gender ratio in the EB is 50% male and 50% female members. Thus the target of at least 40% male and 40% female members as of 2030 was realised. The gender ratio in senior management was 50% male and 50% female executives and with that we satisfy the target of at least 40% male and 40% female executives as of 2030. 

The gender ratio in Enexis's Supervisory Board is 40% male and 60% female members. We thus satisfy the current target of at least 40% male and 40% female members.

Bridging the gap

Enexis also wants to be a good employer for people with poor job prospects. In previous years, we focused mainly on agreements with our suppliers on social return. We also looked for good solutions together with our colleagues who experience physical or mental challenges in their jobs (see table). In the coming years, we want to create more opportunities in our organisation for people with poor job prospects. 

Improving cultural diversity

Enexis wants its organisation to be a genuine representation of society. In the interest of society, but also because we believe that more diversity results in better solutions and more innovative capacity. To achieve this, we want to recruit more employees with diverse cultural backgrounds. The first step is our target that 10% of our new colleagues come from a culturally diverse background. 

We have made our recruitment and selection procedure more objective so that subconscious prejudices that all people have will have less of a chance. This new recruitment and selection process will be introduced in 2024. An external expert is helping us with this. We use the cultural barometer of Statistics Netherlands (CBS) to measure whether we are making progress in this area. The first measurement took place in 2021. This showed that, according to the definition and figures of the CBS, 10% of our existing employees originally came from outside the Netherlands, of which 6% outside Europe. 

Embedding a socially safe working environment

At Enexis, we consider it important to embed integrity in our organisation. This concerns, in particular, good behaviour and good communication. Furthermore, we have reporting procedures and regulations, for example, for reporting any violations. Employees can also contact internal and external confidential counsellors. In addition, an internal integrity committee discusses integrity and fraud issues and ensures that we continue to work on embedding integrity in our culture. We consider a socially safe workplace important for all employees. We also pay attention to unacceptable behaviour. With an awareness campaign with anonymous stories, we lead employees to our internal website about social safety. Here, they can find information about the rules and how they can submit a report. In this manner, we create the conditions for a safe and inclusive working environment in which people can express their opinions and standpoints.

Social Fund

Integrity also has to do with solidarity. For this we have, for example, the Enexis Groep Social Fund. With this fund, we provide assistance to employees and former employees who need help and for whom existing regulations provide insufficient help. This concerns financial support, but also bringing people into contact with experts, such as coaches from the National Institute for Family Finance Information (Nidbud). Each request is assessed individually by the board of the Social Fund, which renders account on this in an annual report. Every member pays € 12 a year. Enexis supports this form of solidarity by doubling the membership revenues every year.

Equal rights

Enexis endorses the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the fundamental principles and rights to work of the International Labour Organisation. We make no distinction whatsoever based on gender, sexual orientation, or origin. Our employment conditions are based on equal pay for equal work. We actively combat corruption, bribery, conflicts of interest, and the violation of human rights. We have laid this down in our collective labour agreement, in company regulations, the Enexis Code of Conduct for employees, the Suppliers Code of Conduct, and General Procurement Conditions. With our compliance protocol, we stimulate employees to comply with laws and internal and external regulations.